A description of the reaction of olefins with amines, carbon monoxide, and water in the presence of transition metal catalysts containing, for example, rhodium, ruthenium or iridium, can be found in F. Jachimowicz and J. W. Raksis, J. Org. Chem. 1982, 47, pages 445 to 447. This process, also known as catalytic aminomethylation, produces amines in yields varying considerably and requires pure carbon monoxide as reactant.
GB 2,113,210 A relates to the preparation of tertiary amines by reaction of long-chain olefins with carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and a primary or secondary amine in the presence of a rhodium or ruthenium catalyst, in particular RhCl.sub.3.3H.sub.2 O and RuCl.sub.3.3H.sub.2 O. A mono- or polygydric alcohol to which water may have been added is used as the solvent. After the reaction, the solvent phase containing the alcohol is separated off from the reaction product by phase separation, and the catalyst, most of which is dissolved in the solvent, is recovered. If the recovered catalyst is used again in the reaction, the yield of amine drops significantly after a few reuses. Since the reaction mixture still contains the expensive catalyst in non-negligible amounts, even after phase separation, the recovery of the catalyst effected by repeated separation of the solvent phase and its reuse as catalyst leaves something to be desired. Furthermore, a portion of the reaction product is present in the solvent phase and has to be separated in a further step.